What is the word for 'Engineering' in Swedish: Swedish students conceptions of their discipline

Adams, Robin

Fincher, Sally

Pears, Arnold

Börstler, Jürgen

Boustedt, Jonas

University of Gävle, Department of Mathematics, Natural and Computer Sciences, Ämnesavdelningen för datavetenskap.

Dalenius, Peter

Eken, Gunilla

Heyer, Tim

Jacobsson, Andreas

Lindberg, Vanja

Molin, Bengt

Moström, Jan-Erik

Wiggberg, Mattias

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2007 (English)Report (Other academic)

Abstract [en]

Engineering education in Sweden – as in the rest of the world – is experiencing a decline in student interest. There are concerns about the ways in which students think about engineering education, why they join an academic programme in engineering, and why they persist in their studies. In this context the aims of the Nationellt ämnesdidaktiskt Centrum för Teknikutbildning i Studenternas Sammanhang project (CeTUSS) is to investigate the student experience and to identify and support a continuing network of interested researchers, as well as in building capacity for disciplinary pedagogic investigation.

The Stepping Stones project brings together these interests in a multi-researcher, multi-institutional study that investigates how tudents and academic staff perceive engineering in Sweden and in Swedish education. The first results of that project are reported here. As this study is situated uniquely in Swedish education, it allows for exploration of “a Swedish perspective” on conceptions of engineering. The Stepping Stones project was based on a model of research capacity-building previously instantiated in the USA and Australia (Fincher & Tenenberg, 2006).